Taiwan ranked 16th in this year’s global talent ranking by the International Institute for Management Development, climbing four spots from last year on the back of better employment training and initatives to attract foreign professionals, the Switzerland-based group said yesterday.
The survey compared the performance of 64 economies worldwide with regard to talent investment and development, appeal and readiness, the institute said.
Switzerland topped the list for the fifth straight year.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, Reuters
The survey showed that employees are more motivated in more competitive economies, the institute said, attributing the trend in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sweden ranked second, followed by Luxembourg, Norway and Denmark.
The National Development Council, which provided the data for Taiwan, said that the nation improved its ranking on the back of higher scores in the talent investment and development gauges, as it improved its ability to attract and retain talent.
Over the past two years, foreign professionals and overseas Taiwanese talent have increasingly opted for Taiwan, where COVID-19 had limited effect on daily lives, foreign trade groups said.
However, this advantage might abate if Taiwan keeps its tight COVID-19 curbs in place while most of the world loosens restrictions, the European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan said, adding that strict border controls and quarantine requirements pose challenges for internationally operating firms.
Taiwan’s ability to connect with the world lifts its global competitiveness and presence, despite its COVID-19 strategy risking to isolate the country, the trade group said.
Regionally, Taiwan ranked third, behind 11th-ranked Hong Kong and 12th-ranked Singapore, the institute said.
South Korea ranked 34th, and China ranked 39th, it said.
Taiwan’s score was boosted by substantial improvements in its apprenticeship system and valuation of employee training, the institute said, adding that the nation ranked seventh and fifth on the respective sub-indices.
The council said that the government has tried hard to build bridges between educational institutions and the private sector.
However, Taiwan has a lot of room for improvement in public education spending, ranking 50th in the survey and losing five spots since last year, the council said.
The government has earmarked NT$15 billion (US$541.32 million) for a special program to upgrade digital infrastructure at schools and is planning to spend another NT$20 billion on Internet applications at elementary and junior high schools, the council said.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Taiwanese prosecutors suspect that three people successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, people familiar with the matter said. The trio was detained last week by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc servers containing advanced Nvidia chips, which the US has barred from sale to China without a license from Washington. The move marked Taiwan’s first public crackdown on AI chip diversion after years of pressure from the US to take a more active role in curtailing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) employee bonuses are likely to grow more than 30 percent this year, in line with the past few years as the company’s profits continue to set new records, an anonymous source cited TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) as saying yesterday. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, is committed to taking care of its workers, the source said, citing Wei’s meeting with employees yesterday morning. Wei also expressed gratitude to employees for their contribution to the company’s improving bottom line, the source added. Since 2023, TSMC’s employee bonuses have grown at an annual rate of